Today, we have the co-founder of Black Box Social Media, Curt Maly. This man truly knows his stuff when it comes to sales. He's been doing it since he was 15 years old and has an impressive track record of consulting with some top corporations. For a decade he has been focused on digital ads, consulting, training and creating marketing strategies like the Golden Ad Process, Hot Seven, Hot 28, and much more! His methodologies have helped people rise to the top of their industries, including best-selling authors, and this episode is a serious must-watch!
Around 2007, Curt was in the real estate market selling information on how to profit in the booming market. He was utilizing some of the online marketing tricks of the day and doing well. When the market bubble popped in 2008, he ran into a friend named Mike Dillard who introduced him to a revolutionary new way of online marketing. He watched him launch a business that produced $300k-$400k in just a few hours.
Curt was blown away. Suddenly, he found himself skyrocketing in the social media scene. From celebrities to Presidential candidates, Curt has helped them all grow their online presence and rake in huge profits.
The pioneers are the ones who end up with the arrows in their back. And, Curt knows all about the feeling of being pierced by those arrows when he found himself banned from Facebook. At the time, Curt was running ads for some very high-profile clients. Suddenly, the accounts were shut down with no explanation from Facebook as to why.
After going around and around with Facebook reps trying to figure out what happened to the accounts to no avail, he found himself in the midst of a bit of a hairy situation. Unbeknownst to Curt, the Facebook rep who had agreed to help him resolve the issues was accused of releasing proprietary information, and Curt's agency was banned. Not just banned, legally banished from going anywhere near a Facebook link. After some time of dealing with the ensuing legal battle, Facebook rescinded the ban.
But, during that time, Curt was able to really take the time to learn more about the changes and new techniques as they evolved. Additionally, it turned out to be a great teaching point to help others understand better how to not violate the terms and conditions.
Using the example of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Curt explains how social media can be used to influence decision-making in content consumers. By targeting the "persuadables" with very specific information, Cambridge Analytica was able to sway the 2016 Election vote. How did they do it?
Facebook employs an insane amount of data scientists who analyze the information gathered by users. With all of this information at your fingertips, if you know how to understand it, you can also learn ways to very specifically target your audience and speak directly to them. Over the years, there have been countless studies done on how to influence the decision-making of target audiences. People often make decisions based on emotion. How they feel about your brand in the moment.
Propaganda can be used for good or for evil. So, how do we use propaganda for good? Because Facebook is such a finely-tuned propaganda machine, they know exactly what to show us at the exact right time in the exact right place. Learn the techniques, utilize them, and the returns on your advertising budget will increase exponentially.
Take a look at your strategy. Do you speak to your customers in generalities or in absolutes? If you're speaking in generalities, ask yourself: Are you afraid to stand above the rest for fear of being cut down by the haters? In marketing, the haters can sometimes be your best tool. How?
Think back to the propaganda machine. There is a balance to find between a little controversy and playing it safe. Swing too far to either side, and it will work against you. Every once in awhile, stir up a little controversy in comments on your ads.
Mix up your messages every once in a while. Post a different ad for every day of the week, targeted for a specific reaction. If you're on multiple platforms, don't use the same ad across platforms. Keep it fresh, keep it focused, and keep them on their toes!
